It was looking as if the Penguins/Flyers series would completely dominate the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but some new numbers have knocked a couple games from the series out of the top five.

Starting back with last Monday’s numbers, which I’d been waiting for awhile to get, Game 3 of the Bruins/Capitals series drew a series-high on cable 804,000 viewers. It’ll go down, pre-Game 7’s, as the fifth-most watched game of the opening round.

It was only beaten this week by two Pens/Flyers games, and Sunday night’s Los Angeles/Vancouver Game 5. 817,000 viewers watched the Kings dethrone the Canucks in overtime, marking the most-watched game of the first round on cable, so far, that didn’t feature the Pens and Flyers.

The Bruins at Capitals Game 6 last Sunday on NBC drew 3.52 million viewers, making it the most-watched NHL Playoff game (excluding Stanley Cup Final games) in 15 years, since May 25, 1997 (Rangers-Flyers Conference Final game, Fox, 3.61 million viewers).

The 3.52 million for Bruins-Capitals is the most-watched early-round NHL Playoff game in Nielsen People Meter history (dating back to 1993).

Boston (16.3 rating) and Washington, D.C. (8.6) both registered the best rating for an NHL playoff game, excluding Stanley Cup Final games, in their respective local markets in Nielsen People Meter history (dating back to 1993).

VIEWERSHIP ON NBC SPORTS NETWORK UP 17%: Through 12 days, and with one Game 6 and at least two Game 7s (possibly three) remaining, average viewership of the NHL Quarterfinals on NBC Sports Network is up 17% compared to the same days last year (691,000 vs. 591,000).

TOTAL VIEWERSHIP OF NHL PLAYOFFS UP 37%: *Nearly 23 million viewers (22.76 million) have watched the NHL Playoffs on NBC, NBCSN, and CNBC through Sun 4/22, up 37% from the same period last year (16.577 million).

*Please note that this data goes through Sunday, April 15 on NBC and Sunday, April 22 on NBCSN/CNBC

While NBC Sports Network was setting a post-season high with Penguins and Flyers, CNBC was doing the same with a hockey game of their own.

Game 5 of the Red Wings/Predators Western Conference Quarterfinal on the money channel drew 543,000 viewers. That marked the second-best ratings for the series on cable (after Game 4, which was on NBCSN and drew 628,000). It’s easily the best numbers for a Stanley Cup Playoff game on CNBC so far, but only 14th-best overall by our current numbers. It does show that hockey fans are finding the channel in time for exclusive second round action, which the network will have a bit of.

A total of 1.6 million viewers were watching Stanley Cup Playoff hockey on Friday on the networks of NBCUniversal.